


Work In Progess

by angellwings



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Background Case, Between Seasons/Series, F/M, Friendship, Jealousy, Love, Post-Season/Series 01, Romance, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-06
Updated: 2015-09-06
Packaged: 2018-04-19 10:49:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4743521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angellwings/pseuds/angellwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Cassandra makes a friend, Jake is jealous, and Ezekiel is a very frustrated third wheel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Work In Progess

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting on my computer without an ending for months. I finally got around to finishing it over the last week or so. It came from a conversation I had with some people about how we wanted an episode where Cassandra had a random love interest (like Mabel was to Jake in City of Light) to have the tables turned on him. And then it went from "omg look at Jake squirm" to "oh crap, my poor broken babies." So hope you guys enjoy!  
> Happy reading!  
> angellwings

No. Nope. No. No. No. No. NOPE.

This was not happening. He was not seeing this. This was bad dream or some sort of prank Ezekiel had whipped up. This was not actually happening right in front of him.

There was no way Cassandra was beaming at some guy that had stumbled into their case. There was also no way said guy had managed to catch her when her knees gave out before Jake could, himself. Jake was the guy that caught her when her episodes were too much. Not _this_ guy. This guy who was much too attractive for Jake’s comfort and far too understanding about Cassie’s synesthesia. This guy who smirked at her when she started speaking science and who Jake had actually seen put a hand on the small of her back when they walked into that last room.

Who did this guy think he was?

This was their case. They were The Librarians. He was just the IT guy for City Hall. He was a civilian.

No, Jake decided, this wasn’t happening. And if it was, well, he didn’t like it.

“What’s your problem?” Ezekiel asked him as they followed Cassandra and the IT guy into another room. (Who’s name Jake refused to remember because they would never see him again once this was over. Why bother?) Her spell seemed to have given them a lead on the culprit they were searching for.

“What do we actually know about this guy?” Jake asked him quietly to make sure Cassandra didn’t hear him. “Should we really just _let him_ tag along?”

“Well, he seems to be fairly helpful,” Ezekiel said as he smirked at Stone.

“Assuming he’s leading us in the right direction.”

Ezekiel chuckled and patted Stone’s shoulder. Stone brushed it off before Ezekiel spoke.

“Yeah, you see the look on his face? He’s not going to lead us astray. He’s trying to impress her. We could probably convince him to literally jump off a bridge if we told him _she_ wanted him to,” Ezekiel told him.

“Not a bad idea,” Jake mumbled under his breath.

“What was that?” Ezekiel asked knowingly.

“I don’t like it,” he told him.

“Yeah, I gathered that much,” Ezekiel said with a secretive grin. “Do you have a _good_ reason as to _why_?”

“Ah!” Cassandra suddenly yelled happily. She turned to the IT guy with an excited face and flailed her arms in a quirky way only Cassandra could manage before she elaborated. “You found it!”

“Not really,” he replied sheepishly. “I just know from working in this room so often that the outlet on that wall doesn’t work and that there’s sometimes a mysterious breeze right about here.”

“Um, if we could interrupt for a moment,” Jake said with an exasperated sigh. “What exactly did computer guy—“

“Greg.”

“Yeah, okay,” Jake said dismissively. “What exactly did _Greg_ find?”

Cassandra giggled and then kicked the outlet _Greg_ had mentioned a moment ago. A door sized portion of the wall clicked and then slid away to reveal an ominous dark hallway. “A secret passageway! He found a secret passageway! So cool!” Cassandra’s arms flailed again and despite his dislike of Greg, Jake couldn’t help but grin at her just slightly.

“When it comes to dark creepy tunnels,” Ezekiel said as he motioned to the doorway. “I always say…after you.” He waved an arm to indicate the other three should walk through first.

Just as Jake was afraid _Greg_ would never leave the man in question cleared his throat to speak.

“This is probably where I should let you guys work,” Greg said as he smiled fondly at Cassandra. “I don’t want to get in the way.”

Jake started to voice his agreement when Cassie smacked his chest lightly to stop him.

“What? Are you kidding?” She asked as she reached out and looped her arm through Greg’s. “You can’t leave now! The fun’s just getting started!”

“Yeah, Greg,” Ezekiel said as he grinned at Stone. “You can’t go now. You’ll miss all the action.”

Greg looked as though he was seriously considering it before he looked down at his watch and then shook his head. “I really shouldn’t. I have a meeting in fifteen minutes that I can’t be late for.”

“Well, what a shame, Craig,” Jake said as he pasted on a smile. “It was nice meeting you. Have a nice day. Come on, Cassie, let’s go.”

Jake gently pushed Cassie into the dark hallway.

“But—But I—“

“Nope, no time for goodbyes. We’ll see you later, Craig.”

“It’s Greg, actually.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t really care,” Ezekiel told him honestly with a smirk and sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Thanks for your help, though!”

“You’re welcome?” Greg said with a furrowed brow and a confused tone. “I’ll call you later, Cassie!” He called after them.

She broke away from Stone and turned to beam at Greg with an excited wave. She bit her bottom lip and blushed before Ezekiel caught up with her and turned her back to the task at hand.

“Yes, yes, you’re smitten. It’s adorable. Focus, kid,” Ezekiel said with a chuckle as he gently pushed her ahead of him, toward Jake. Jake pulled out his phone and turned on its flashlight as the three of them continued in silence.

“Where exactly do we think this may lead?” Jake asked them as he tried to see the walls through the darkness.

“No idea,” Cassandra told him. “But secret passageways almost always mean adventure and adventure usually leads us to a relic or a creature. So, we’ll find out eventually.”

Ezekiel laughed at her. “Walking blindly into danger,” he stated. “It’s a good thing Baird’s not here. She’d kill us.”

There was silence again before Jake suddenly turned to face Cassandra.

“Hold on, he said he’d call you,” Jake said thoughtfully.

“Yes, that’s what people do when they want to make plans. They call each other and talk,” Cassandra said sarcastically with a sigh.

“You gave him your number?” Jake asked as he gave her a disbelieving look.

She shrugged and smiled softly. “He asked me for it.”

“And do you give your number to everyone who asks for it?” Jake said with a huff.

Ezekiel grinned between the two of them and tried to cover it up by placing a hand on his chin. This was about to get very interesting.

“No,” she said bitingly as she turned a glare on him. “Just to the people who _trust_ me.”

Jake grimaced and Ezekiel noted that he seemed to be properly put in his place. She’d stuck a chord and she knew it.

“What exactly is your problem with Greg, anyway?” Cassandra asked with a huff. “He’s nice and he was very helpful.”

“I don’t have a problem with Greg,” Jake said stiffly.

“Yet another lie to keep another secret,” Cassandra muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at the ground. “Maybe I’m the one who shouldn’t trust you.”

Ouch, Ezekiel thought with a wince. This was getting a little more heated than he initially predicted. Time to interfere. “You know maybe we should get moving again,” He said as he cleared his throat and pointed further down the corridor. “I think I see a tiny light up ahead.”

“I don’t lie to _you_ , Cassandra,” Jake said softly.

“Oh really?” She asked in a challenging tone. “So you wouldn’t care if I went out with Greg?” she asked. “You’d be totally fine with it?”

“Should I use my powers of invisibility for good or for evil?” Ezekiel asked with a resigned sigh. This was happening and he couldn’t stop it.

Jake let out a soft growl. It was so low that Ezekiel almost missed it.

“He caught you when you fell,” Jake said through his teeth. “That’s my job.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes at him. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You don’t even trust me!” She exclaimed as she pointed an accusing finger at him. “You can’t be jealous and keep me an arm’s length away. It doesn’t work that way!”

“What doesn’t work that way?” Jake asked loudly. “What?”

“I don’t know!” She yelled in response. “I don’t even know what _this_ ,” she paused and pointed between the two of them. “IS! But you can’t shut me out and then act like a pouty toddler when _someone else_ lets me in!”

“Um, guys?” Ezekiel asked as he shined his own phone light ahead of them.

“Pouty toddler?” Jake asked incredulously. “ _Pouty toddler?”_

“What else would you say you were acting like?” She asked him archly. “Oh! I know, a total jackass, maybe? You aren’t being fair!”

“Guys,” Ezekiel said again as he squinted at the light he’d noticed earlier.

“Fair? You wanna talk about fair?” Jake asked with a bitter chuckle. “How about meeting you, being completely fascinated by you, and then—you made your choice!”

“Yes, I did!” She yelled back. “And I have to live with that. I have to live with losing you before I’d even—I apologized. Several times. I tried to explain myself but you won’t listen. So, what did you think would happen, Stone? Did you think I would spend the rest of my already too short life pining after you or something? I have a tumor. I’m not celibate!”

“And on that note,” Ezekiel said with a disgusted face as he snapped his fingers at his colleagues. “Can I turn your attention to the light that _was_ tiny but is now definitely _not_ tiny?”

“What?” They asked simultaneously as they turned to look at the light he’d previously mentioned. Their argument was momentarily forgotten.

“Do you hear that?” Cassandra asked with a furrowed brow.

“What?” Jake asked cluelessly.

Ezekiel paused to listen. He had good ears, he should have heard whatever this was before her. But then with the sound of their shouting who could hear anything? “I hear it,” he said after a moment. “It’s clanking. Fast clanking metal. And then a roar.”

A low whistle could be heard in the distance as the light continued to grow larger.

“That…that was a train whistle,” Jake said urgently. “There is no way this hallway is big enough for a train. It couldn’t possibly be a train.”

It was a train. A ghost train. A big loud ghost train that had run them over. But as it was a _ghost_ train they all escaped unscathed. Terrified beyond all reason, but unscathed. The ghost train could only mean one thing…they were getting close. The rest of the case was as eventful as any other case. There were more spirits resurrected and oddly enough things turned to gold. (One of those things would have been Jake if Cassandra hadn’t distracted the old Mayor who’d had the relic in his possession.) It was a stone. A gold stone in a protective pouch. They’d found the Mayor in a secret room at the end of the corridor shaving bits of the stone off. They didn’t know what he was doing but it couldn’t be good. Cassandra’s distraction gave Ezekiel enough time to lift it off of the Mayor and Jake enough time to recover from his near death attack and tackle the crazed old man to the ground. Once the Mayor was subdued Jake joined Cassandra and Ezekiel by the door to study the object.

“That can’t be what I think it is,” Cassandra said with a furrowed brow. “Can it?”

“It definitely is,” Ezekiel confirmed. “I’ve read the file. A lot.”

Jake and Cassandra gave him exasperated looks.

“What? Little rock that can turn anything I want into gold? You expected me not to look it up?” He asked with a smirk.

“But the Philosopher’s Stone is in The Library,” Cassandra said in confusion. “Isn’t it?”

“Jenkins hasn’t finished inventory yet,” Jake said as he took the stone and it’s protective cover from Ezekiel. “The Serpent Brotherhood stole more than a few items. We’re still not sure what’s missing. It’s definitely likely that this could be one of them.”

“But how did _he_ get it?” Cassandra asked as she motioned to the Mayor.

“Bought it. I’d imagine,” Ezekiel said simply. “If I were the Serpent Brotherhood I’d sell off anything that was too much of a risk to the highest bidder. This little stone would definitely get noticed if they used it. They would have been stupid to keep it.”

“I know the Philosopher’s Stone can turn items into gold, but what was with all the ghosts?” Cassandra asked with a furrowed thoughtful brow.

“Part of the legend states that it could be the secret to eternal life or resurrection from death,” Jake told her. “Seems he figured out how to use it for both.”

“Crafty old bloke,” Ezekiel said with a smirk. “Now, I say we head back down the creepy dark hallway and get the hell out of dodge.”

The adrenaline from the case faded just like that and Cassandra and Jake were back to awkward stares and watching each other when they thought no one was looking. They’d just barely started the walk back to the room they’d come from when Ezekiel finally had enough.

“Ruddy idiots!” He yelled suddenly.

Both Cassandra and Jake jumped and turned to stare at him.

“Everything okay, Ezekiel?” Cassandra asked in concern.

“No, you see my colleagues are blind stubborn idiots,” he told her with an annoyed sigh. “They clearly have feelings but neither one will actually say the words because of a decision that was admitted to be mistake _ages_ ago. At first it was amusing but now it’s bloody annoying.”

They both started at him in shocked silence for an agonizing moment before he huffed and shook his head at them.

“I’m walking on ahead,” he told them. “Alone.”

“Well,” Cassandra said primly as she watched Ezekiel walk away. “That was different. But we probably deserved it.”

There was another moment of silence before Cassandra let out an exasperated sigh and walked on ahead of him.

“So, you really like that Craig guy?” Jake called after her before he finally walked forward to catch up with her.

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t?” She asked him pointedly.

He didn’t answer her and she rolled her eyes with a sigh.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” she muttered as she picked up her pace to walk ahead of him again. She stopped suddenly and turned to face him with a glare. “Just because you don’t want me doesn’t mean no one else will, Jacob. So, decide what you want us to be and then stick with it, okay? I can’t take this in between thing we’ve been doing anymore.”

Before he could reply she’d already turned on her heel and stormed off. She was right, of course. They couldn’t keep doing whatever this was. But she needed someone more prepared to open up to her than him. Someone who didn’t instinctually hide half of himself from her at all times. She needed someone who was a little more whole than him. At least more whole than him for the moment. He was working on it, but it wasn’t easy. It would never be easy. And as complicated as her life already is, with The Library and the synesthesia and her…tumor, she deserved something simple for once. He thought so, anyway. He didn’t know how she felt on the subject.

By the time he reached the end of the hallway both Jones and Cassandra were waiting on him. Jones ignored them both and walked on ahead of them again but Jake hung back to talk to Cassandra. He needed to tell her the truth. Or as much as he could in this particular circumstance.

“You’re right,” he admitted to her as they walked back to where they’d left the Back Door. “We can’t keep doing this. “

She gave him a surprised look as if the last thing she’d expected was a response.

Before she could say anything he continued. “And I do like you, Cassie. You know I do. But I’m not in a place yet where I can…where I can be what you need or what you probably deserve. I don’t know if I ever will be, honestly, but I am trying. I wanna be able to—“ he stopped his sentence short and sighed before shaking his head at himself. “You should go out with Craig.”

She smiled softly at him, a little sadly, and then said. “Greg.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said with a weak grin. “He seems like a good guy and I’m sure he comes with a lot less baggage than me. You deserve for something to come easy for once.”

“Jake, are you sure? Because I don’t want to hurt you in any—“

“My issues shouldn’t keep you from living your life,” he said as he interrupted her. “I’ll be okay. I can handle it. I promise.”

He gave her a half hearted smile and then sped up to catch up with Jones. She bit her bottom lip and pulled out her phone. She thought she’d call Greg before they left just to let him know she was leaving but then as she stared at his number, she realized something.

She wasn’t ready to give up on Jacob Stone just yet. He’d actually been honest with her just now. He’d told her the exact status of their relationship and he’d revealed that he did actually like her and he _wanted_ to open up to her. He’d admitted that he was actively working on being able to be himself with her. He’d never been that truthful or upfront with her. After those initial conversations about his inability to trust her she’d been left to read between the lines _a lot_. Reading between the lines was very confusing and difficult. But just now he’d spelled everything out for her as clearly as he could.

It left her feeling as though there was still hope for them.

She tapped a few buttons and deleted Greg’s contact information from her phone. She’d never speak a word of it to Stone but she was willing to wait. They just need a little more time. Admittedly, she didn’t have much of that left, but she certainly had enough of it for _him._


End file.
